Peck Prom to Kick-off Spring Semester

This month was certainly a blast in the Music and Dance LLC. On February 10^th the Black and Gold Committee hosted its first annual Peck Prom. The Peck Prom was open for all students in the Peck School of the Arts. The theme for the prom was 80’s, 90’s and early 2000s music.  People were highly encouraged to dress up in themed costumes. Many of the residents from the LLC dressed up with big teased hair, bright colored clothes and makeup in order to create the perfect costume. The prom was hosted in the Kenilworth building so we all took the shuttle over.  At the prom there was also a button making center, a fun photo booth, food, and a make your own trophy. Even though the DJ didn’t get the memo of the 80s/90s/2000s theme, a lot of people requested the good classics. We all danced and jammed out to Smash Mouth’s All Star. This song is become the theme song for the LLC. Residents always share funny memes about the song.

Another thing that happened this month was that the sophomores had a big paper due for their music history class this past Friday. A lot of the residents formed paper writing groups and tried to motivate each other to get it done on time. A big group of us went to the library on Tuesday to try to get some research done and to find some good sources. Since the paper was wrapped up on Friday, every one was feeling a lot of stress lifted off their shoulders. Later that Friday evening a group of residents went to the UWM orchestra concert to see their follow residents/friends perform.

 

All in all, it was a productive month, socially and academically.

-RA, Madison

Screening and Awards for 24-hour Films!

Welcome back Film Goers!

      February was a blast! As the LLC residents wrapped all of their hard work on their 24 -hour films, it was time for the screening and award ceremony. As we finished up the last-minute plans for the award ceremony we had concerns if everything was going to come together how we wanted. However, with some awesome team work from our RA’s Ryan and Austin, RLC Lexy, and stakeholder Alex, we pulled off an amazing event. The event had a pretty good turnout since we used flicks to host this event we turned this space into the LLC Oscars. We created a step and repeat for them to take photos on so they could remember the moment as well as, some decorations, trophies, and a few pizzas to feed the crowd. We also threw in a chocolate fountain, that was the cherry on top of this event. The residents loved being able to view everyone’s work, and all of them being appreciated and applauded, made it all worth the craziness of organizing.  It was very nice that this event had a great crowd turn out from not only the residents in the LLC, but also resident from all over campus. The film makers truly enjoyed this. All in all, this event was hands down a success.

           

      Since both LLC events for the semester were so early we look forward to having one last social event for the residents before the semester is over. We want to get everyone together and have a little bit of a mixer just to say, “we made!”

-RA, Austin

Education and Leadership Spring Updates

Hello!

February has been an exciting month in the Education and Leadership LLC! We hosted two rounds of incoming freshmen in our LLC for the Go Milwaukee event. The Education and Leadership LLC also made some plans and launched some ideas for the LLC this semester.

Go Milwaukee was an event that was put on by the University to introduce incoming first year students to the university and to the opportunities in University Housing. I was able to meet about 20 different students on two separate days and introduce them to the LLC. I shared the mission I had set for this year’s Education and Leadership LLC to help students get more connected with the School of Education and the Milwaukee Community. The students were able to meet some current residents and learn about how being in the LLC has improved their experience at UWM. My suitemates and I had the opportunity to show off our well decorated suite as a part of the tour experience, and Associate Dean of the School of Education, Jeremy Page, joined in the tour!

In addition to the Go Milwaukee event, the Education and Leadership LLC was able to start working on some of our plans for the semester. After talking with the residents of the LLC and reviewing the results of a survey of interests, we decided to focus on volunteering and being connected to the Milwaukee community. We are still in the process of connecting residents with sites.

Even though it is the shortest, February has still been packed with hype in the LLC. We are excited to see where the rest of the semester goes!

-RA, Lauren

Being an Ally, Goal Setting, and Social Responsibility

Hey there, hi there, ho there!

 

Welcome back, and welcome home!

 

Throughout the month of February, we, the Career Quest RAs, have been working diligently to ensure residents feel welcomed in our community. By hosting an event titled To Be an Ally, RA Alyssa was able to educate residents on the importance of accepting others, as well as fully submerging residents into the LGBT+ community by introducing them to the UWM Drag Show. We have been building what we would like to consider a hate free community. Residents have decorated signs displaying that they welcome all-- their suite is hate free. With residents displaying these decorated signs on their doors, others are more apt to feel welcomed into that suite thus creating a greater, more sociable community as a whole… a community that is home.

 

With a strong social setting established, residents buckled down and set academic goals for this coming semester that are displayed on a large “goal ball machine” in our community lounge. We believe that this is a great way for them to visually see their goals, motivating them to accomplish all that they are capable of accomplishing. In doing this, we have noticed that our residents have been applying themselves more and more, and many have even decided on their majors!

 

This month we have also focused a lot on social responsibility. We have two bulletin boards dedicated to this topic. The first being one that displays the dangers of irresponsible drinking with a message reading, “keep your heads in the books… not the booze.” The second bulletin board explains safe sex. To coincide this, RA Katie hosted a community event where we were able to teach them (in a fun, safe, legal) way the consequences of having unprotected sex, especially in college. Residents exchanged different kinds of candy to one another and at the end learned of the previously stated consequences based on the different types of candy. Residents were highly engaged are thoroughly enjoyed the treats that went along with this event.

-RA, Alyssa

Spring Festivities Resume!

Hello Members of the Arch 2 LLC,

I hope that studio is going well for everyone. I know some have started picking up in intensity, but just keep pushing along.

As I had stated last time, the East Tower RA staff has been putting on some great events this semester that I hope everyone will try to attend. For the overall community, we will be having Adulting 101, Life-Size Clue, Privilege Wingo, and Chug Chug Golf coming up real soon. A couple weeks ago, we had a 16^th floor game night with Monopoly and Cards Against Humanity, which had great turnout. Last week, we had Neighborhood Housing come talk with students on the possibility of living off-campus and tips to succeed at that.

For anyone who missed the event or would like more information, please go visit their office. They will gladly help you navigate through finding an apartment or house. For those staying in the residence halls next year, returner self-assignment is next week. You can opt to live here in the Arch 2 LLC again and hopefully we will have more LLC members next year. For members of the Arch 2 LLC, we will be having the Arch 1 LLC come check out our community and see what it is like living in East Tower this Thursday. Please answer any questions they might have either with the LLC or with sophomore studio.

I hope that everyone continues to do well in studio. Good luck on your next few projects and may warm weather come back again!

Sincerely yours,

RA Zach

Spring Updates for ASL

Second semester means a bunch of exciting events for the ASL LLC! We started off in February with a “Deaf Games” night where we played many different games that are accessible for those who sign, and those who can’t. The fan favorite of the night was “Video Phone” (it’s sort of a deaf version of the game “Telephone”)

Also in the works this semester are our trip to see an interpreted musical, and our annual event, “See What I’m Signing”. This year we are going to see the musical “Chicago” (but we’re watching it in Milwaukee). LLC members get to experience an interpreted musical in our city with very little cost. The LLC fund is paying for the majority of the ticket price! It’s going to be a great opportunity to experience ASL interpreters in a setting outside of school. Plus, we get to see a great musical along with it.

“See What I’m Signing” is an annual event in the LLC where members of the LLC teach other residents in university housing about ASL and Deaf culture. The event even includes a panel of Deaf students answering any questions that the audience wants to ask. “See What I’m Signing” is a safe space to learn about the Deaf community and everyone is welcome. No question is too out there to ask, if you are willing to learn, we are willing to teach. The LLC members also get the experience of helping run an event, which they can take with them into their future endeavors.

-Kirsten Klessig

February Excitment!

A lot of great work has been created over the month of February! The Art & Design LLC students have been hard at work on their paper and plaster projects for the LLC section of 3D concepts. Instructor Ray Chi continues to challenge his students with concepts in abstraction, material use as well as pushing them to higher degrees of finesse and polish in their work. When not sculpting, the LLC students have been seen working together in the study lounges on their Digital Arts, Culture, Theory and Practice (Art 118) project. For many this course is a first chance to create digital artwork and think about technology’s role in contemporary art practice.

 

This past month we have had a few great events on the floor! First, we held a Door Decorating event where the LLC defined what pride means to the community and created decorations that reflect that. Ultimately, the door decorations mirrored the chalkboard designs I created at the beginning of this year in order to solidify the Art & Design LLC’s hall identity.

 

Next, we attended the UWM Drag Show as a community. The UWM Drag Show is an excellent annual event sponsored by the University that takes place in the Milwaukee Theater. It was a night of high-energy performances and awe-inspiring costumes. Important, too, were the discussions it spawned about personal identity and getting to see one aspect of the LGBT community supported on campus. Hopefully this experience served as some inspiration to the young artists in exploring their own identities as well as simply showing them how far a creative mind can take them. 

 

-RA Joe

Spring Industry Expo to Highlight the Month of February

This past month, the Engineering LLC has been busy with events and planning.  We had an event which gathered students to build the tallest tower they could with random supplies given to them like a sheet of paper, straws, bowls, etc.  We had four teams participate and three prizes were given out to the top three groups.  All the teams worked very hard and there was a lot of competitiveness in the room as the last group was racing to beat another. 

As usual, the annual Spring Industry Expo took place on February 24^th. It was a great opportunity for students to talk to and meet companies that relate to engineering. This might just be a chance for the residents to get their foot in the door with the company or might even lead to an internship or summer job offer. Either way, it's a great event that had somewhere around 80 companies eager to meet with students and answer any questions that they might have had. Also, RA Mike and RA Joe even took time to walk any residents that wished over to the Expo!

With these events kicking off the start to a great semester, the Engineering LLC is also planning to have an Alumni Dinner with a lot of exciting people coming.  We’re planning it to be the first week of April.  It will be a buffet style dinner with many different alumni of different engineering majors, ages, and companies to be attending the dinner. There will be many more details to come! 

-Carly Gloff, RA